Friday, May 30, 2014

On May 16th, we interviewed Karen Peterson, M.A., Assistant Professor and Archivist at OHSU Library. I had the honor of interviewing Karen, who is in the process of retiring from her position as OHSU's first archivist.

Karen discussed her upbringing in the St. Johns neighborhood in Portland, and shared stories about the fascinating life she led before going to college and graduate school. Her narratives about the development of OHSU's archives - which she first encountered as a stack of disorganized collections, covered in plastic tarps in a damp storage room - are critical in understanding how the records of our institution have been stewarded over time.

The interview will result in a DVD and transcript. Transcripts and recordings of interviews from the OHSU Oral History Program are added to the archives, and are available for checkout from the Main Library. We have also added PDFs of selected transcripts to a digital collection, with more on the way.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

I recently learned more about the Oregon Rare Books Initiative, a new project based at University of Oregon. The initiative seeks to "publicize the wonderful early print and manuscript collections of Knight
Library at UO, to encourage their use in the classroom, and to
stimulate an intellectual community gathered around the history of the
book."

In 2013-2014, the initiative held seven events in University of Oregon's Knight Library, with speakers on a wide variety of topics in book history, including maps and travel literature, science and cookery, and early modern scholarship.

The last event of the season was held a couple weeks ago, but you can join ORBI's mailing list to learn more about their activities and future events.